News and notes from the Grand Forks Herald's Brad Elliott Schlossman

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Friday morning reading (men’s edition)

It’s the final week of the regular season in the WCHA as we know it, and a lot of teams still have an opportunity to grab a share of the MacNaughton Cup.

St. Cloud State, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Minnesota State-Mankato all, mathematically, have a shot at being claimed league champions.

Every year, it seems, we talk about how tight the league is. And every year there is a cluster of teams fighting for positioning in the league. But I don’t know if I remember this many teams being in that cluster.

One of those teammates is Carter Rowney, who always seems to get hot at this time of year. It’s happening again for him — he has 8 points in the last 7 games. Rowney answered questions in this week’s Q&A.

In about 48 hours, I will be filling out my WCHA awards ballot. Wondering about some of the nominees? I posted them in the Weekly Wednesday update.

The Mankato Free Press featured a couple of seniors, including defenseman Tyler Elbrecht, who is one of the most overlooked player on the team. Read that story here. Elbrecht doesn’t get a lot of acclaim, but very well may be the defenseman asked to be on the ice against the Knight line this weekend.

If you didn’t see it earlier, UND got a commitment from a defenseman Thursday — Penticton Vees blue liner Troy Stecher. The full story is here.

That’s it for now. I have to be awake in three hours to drive to St. Paul to cover the East Grand Forks vs. St. Thomas Academy state semifinal game. Then, it’s off to Mankato. I’ll log back on with lineups about two hours before game time.